The Flickering Beacon
by MemeticSnowclone
Summary: Two significant events don't quite go according to plan, and Jaune ends up with an interesting ability. Except that he doesn't want to activate it himself, he's not sure how he got it, and it's really only useful if things go catastrophically wrong. That is to say, fairly often. Only Jaune can tell how things will end up! Time-travel.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own RWBY.**

* * *

"Hey… I'm Jaune."

Jaune had expected to see some crazy stuff at Beacon, he mused as he pulled the girl to her feet, but certainly not before he had even set foot in the school. The girl in question was red in hair, clothing, and current complexion, and kept her eyes cast downwards in embarrassment. He had seen the whole incident, wandering around in hopes of meeting someone, but had only approached when both the explosion and the scary (but oh-so-beautiful) girl in white had cleared away.

"Ruby," the red girl finally returned. She looked up at him then, a bemused expression on her face. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Taken rather aback, he sputtered,

"Well, um, that is… I, uh, kinda get motion sick." They started walking towards the towering building ahead, and he quickly added, "Not that it's a big deal or anything, I just ate too soon beforehand and I was nervous, well, not very nervous, or really nervous at all, but…" he trailed off awkwardly.

"But?" Ruby prompted, now stifling giggles. Desperately casting about for something to talk about other than his numerous failings ('Confidence, Jaune!' he thought with a mental eye-roll), he noticed a man towing what looked to be a hotel luggage cart filled to the brim with various briefcases.

"Uh, what's in all the cases?" he asked quickly. He'd been going for friendly, but judging by the dour look leveled his way, he hadn't succeeded.

"Miss Schnee's Dust supplies," the man grunted shortly.

"Oh, the girl in white?" Jaune said. "Why were you guys fighting, anyway?" he directed towards Ruby.

"I wasn't! Or we weren't. But Yang abandoned me and I was dizzy and confused and accidentally tripped into one of the cases and she just started yelling at me and," Ruby took a breath before continuing, "I tried to apologize but she shook Dust in my face and I just sneezed and everything exploded!"

Jaune and the man were, unbeknownst to each other, giving her very similar baffled expressions. Jaune was the first to recover, and laughed awkwardly, saying "Well, I guess you guys didn't make the best first impression. But I'm sure she'll realize it was all just an accident!"

The man started walking slightly faster, in a futile effort to escape the two. Ruby, who was looking toward him for confirmation of Jaune's statement, started slightly and called out, "Hey! That briefcase looks like it's about to fall off!" Indeed, one of the briefcases higher up was moving around with the vibration of the cart, slightly too close to the edge for comfort. Jaune perked up and jogged to catch the cart, giving an offhand "I'll get that!" to the man. As he reached for the loose case atop the stacks, the man tried to jerk the cart away, muttering obscenities under his breath. Jaune's fingertips brushed the case, caught it, and thanks to the opposing force the man provided yanked it clean off the stack. Jaune stumbled back and fell, and the case tumbled after him, opening seemingly in slow motion. He caught a glimpse of the case's contents as it opened: a row of Dust vials, colors flashing too quickly in the sunlight to identify, and with that, the case crashed down onto him, its volatile payload immediately erupting in a flash of searing white light.

When Jaune blearily opened his eyes, Ruby's face loomed over him with a worried expression, which quickly shifted to relieved as she noticed him awaken.

"What…" was all Jaune could get out before Ruby exclaimed "Oh my Oum, Jaune, you're alright! There was this huge explosion, even bigger than the earlier one, and you kinda looked like you might have been dead. But you're not! Thank goodness for Aura…" she trailed off.

"Aura?" Jaune asked, somewhat dazedly.

"Yeah, I think you could have been seriously hurt without it."

"Uh, yeah, glad it was there… Wait, where'd that one guy go?" Jaune asked. Ruby looked around briefly, then said, "He left; he was muttering something about ordering a new case before anyone noticed?"

"Oh," was all Jaune could say in reply. "Well, I'm pretty sure I'm alright (somehow, he thought to himself), so uh, why don't we just forget about that whole thing and get going to the welcoming or whatever?"

"Sounds good to me!" Ruby cheered, grabbing his extended hand and hauling him to his feet. Suddenly, Jaune's vision swam and he felt an odd pull in his gut, back towards where he had just been laying. Fearing he was on the verge of falling over again, he knelt down on the hard stone on the path, staring at the ground and trying to breathe normally.

"You OK?" Ruby asked, face shifting back to concerned in an instant. He took a moment to respond, focusing on the disconcerting sensation and willing it to fade. He slowly stood back up and said, "Yeah, I think so. I probably just need some rest or something." Giving his whole body a shake in an attempt to forget the odd feeling, he added, "we really should get to the welcoming speech, though."

* * *

The next weeks passed in an exhilarating and nerve-wracking blur. Jaune and Ruby did their best to forget their recent respective explosive incidents and continued to the school without further mentioning them. The headmaster gave a speech, if it could be called such, and Jaune spent a somewhat humiliating night sleeping in the auditorium, once he correctly interpreted all the strange looks he was getting. He met a lot of people in a blur, unsuccessfully attempted flirting with a few of them, and generally tried to show on the outside the confidence he lacked inside.

Initiation was a beast unto itself, and that's all he was willing to think about the subject even after it was all over.

But attending a school he had no business being at in the first place proved more difficult than he could- and perhaps should- have imagined. Even beyond trying to show his team (and wasn't that a wild thought; his team) that he belonged and had skills as a warrior and a person, schoolwork bewildered him and quickly suffered due to his lack of studying, current and previous. The effect only worsened when, in a misguided attempt at sincerity largely borne of frustration, he confessed his faked transcripts to Pyrrha, only to be overheard by Cardin, easily his least favorite person on the campus. The following days and weeks Jaune could only describe as "hellish". He felt stressed, overworked, underprepared despite that, and had to deal with Cardin & Co's constant coercion, called "friendship" by them. Not one of his friends and teammates bought it, but he felt he had to at least attempt to act as a good leader, despite his general shortcomings. And so Jaune pretended everything was fine and did his best to shoulder the burden he had largely forced upon himself.

Which brings us to today, in the forest of Forever Fall, friends and foes fleeing from the fearsome fiend of an Ursa. The creature had been lured inadvertently by spilled sweet sap, courtesy of Cardin, and now ran hot on the heels of a blonde-haired hunter. That hunter, unfortunately, was not Yang, or this story would have progressed quite differently. Let us then rejoin the action.

* * *

Jaune ran at a flat-out sprint, gasping desperately for breath, extremely aware of the crashing sounds and loud grunting behind him. His eyes darted madly, searching for something, anything, that could help him escape with his body intact, recognizing faintly that he would run out of breath very shortly. They seized upon something- a tree loomed just ahead, larger than most of the others he'd seen in the forest. He pushed himself just a bit further, and darted around the trunk, holding Crocea Mors and his shield aloft, heaving for the oxygen he had lost in his madcap run. Not seconds after he had reached the cover, he felt as much as heard a deafening crash, and the tree shuddered behind him. After several seconds of tense almost-silence, Jaune gathered the courage to peek around the trunk, only to see the Ursa slumped on the ground in front of the tree.

"Ha!" Jaune shouted, throwing a fist into the air, bursting into a coughing fit immediately after. "Got you," he rasped after catching his breath once more, moving forward with Crocea Mors pointed threateningly toward the Ursa. The Ursa shifted, huffed, and Jaune froze. Its massive head began to rise, and Jaune suddenly found his gaze met by two baleful red orbs. Unable to decide whether he should run forward and attempt to kill the Grimm before it could fully recover, or renew his dash in the opposite direction, Jaune simply remained frozen in place, hands shaking. The Ursa gave a great lurch upwards, and Jaune finally seized control of his muscles back, dashing forward and striking at the beast, scoring two thin wounds across its face. The Ursa gave a great roar in return, finally standing back at its full height, which towered over Jaune. Jaune raised his shield just in time to deflect a blow, even that slight impact shoving him back and sending pain shooting through his shield-arm. Ignoring the pain (more out of desperation than any actual determination), he stabbed forward, getting a smokey substance to spill out for his trouble. He ducked under another swipe, and then, eyes flicking up, he yelped and shifted his shield, taking the next hit directly to it and gasping as his arm really began to hurt. Striking out in turn once more, Jaune began to feel hope as the Ursa flinched back, and sank into a ready stance for its next strike.

"Jaune!" a voice called from somewhere off to the side, beyond where the Ursa sat.

"Here!" Jaune cried in return, deflecting another blow and managing another hit. He could do it! Just another hit or two and it'd be over; his aura should hopefully work to keep his now faintly deadened arm working alright until they got back to Beacon.

"We're coming, hold on!" Jaune looked to his left after bringing his shield back up and saw Pyrrha running at a sprint (not looking out of breath because of course not) toward him. His lapse in attention caused the shield to drift left with his vision, leaving an opening that the Grimm promptly took advantage of. With a mighty swipe, Jaune was pushed back- not, unfortunately, away from the Ursa but towards the ground. As he landed, he felt his breath leave him with a loud gasp. His arm started throbbing harder, and Jaune realized with a chill that his Aura had almost run out. Abruptly the Ursa's claws embedded themselves in Jaune's gut, and he cried out hoarsely in pain.

"Jaune!" he heard, somewhere off to the side, and became faintly aware of the Ursa dissolving into black mist above him. Pyrrha's face appeared above him, looking distraught, and he tried to smile reassuringly up at her. That smile, more ghastly than comforting, turned into a grimace as, even over the pain (which had begun to diminish, oddly enough), he felt a strong and unpleasant tugging behind what remained of his navel. Pyrrha started to shake him lightly, shouting something indistinct, and he mumbled "lemme… sleep". Black began to overtake his vision, and he gladly fell into it.

* * *

When Jaune blearily opened his eyes, Ruby's face loomed over him with a worried expression, which quickly shifted to relieved as she noticed him awaken.

"What…" was all Jaune could get out before Ruby exclaimed "Oh my Oum, Jaune, you're alright! There was this huge explosion, even bigger than the earlier one, and you kinda looked like you might have been dead. But you're not! Thank goodness for Aura…" she trailed off.

"Aura?" Jaune asked dazedly.

"Yeah, I think you could have been seriously hurt without it."

"I guess so... how did you guys get me out of there alright? I thought I was done for."

"Well, the other guy left, so it was kinda just me, but I couldn't really do anything! Luckily I don't think you've taken any damage, somehow." Jaune looked up at this.

"Wait, what other guy? And what do you mean, no damage? What happened to Pyrrha?" Ruby gave him a weird look.

"OK, maybe we should find the infirmary before the welcoming speech… you might have a concussion. Oh, why did Yang have to leave?" she said, half-muttering the last part. Jaune actually began to take in his surroundings; not inside a Bullhead, or the school, or the infirmary, but rather on the pavement a good distance in front of Beacon's main entrance.

"What the…" Jaune murmured. Ruby took the opportunity to pull him to his feet. Jaune immediately felt the same horrible tugging sensation in his gut, and a pain equal in magnitude blossomed in his head. He sank to a kneel, bowing his head, and tried to focus on breathing for a moment. Before he knew it, the sensation had passed, aside from some lingering head pain.

"Seriously, are you alright, uh, Jaune? Right? You sure you don't want to go to the infirmary?"

"I… just want to know what's going on," Jaune said, wheezing slightly.

"Right, we should probably go to the welcoming speech!" Ruby said.

"Wha…" was all Jaune could get out to that statement.

"Let's hurry up so we're not late! I'll take you to the infirmary right after, though," Ruby added. With that, they started walking toward the imposing structure of Beacon, Jaune filled with confusion and a vague sense of dread.

They entered the auditorium, most of the prospective students having already entered. Off to the side, Yang called, "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" Ruby looked up at Jaune and said, "That's my sister, Yang! You should stick with us though, I don't want you falling over again."

"H-hey…" was Jaune's only response, too busy taking in his surroundings. He ignored the subsequent squabble between Weiss, Ruby, and Yang, in favor of peering intently at the faces around him, searching for something resembling a conspiratorial grin or wink, something to tell him that this was just a horribly elaborate prank on an injured(?) man. But then, he realized, Ruby at the least would never play along with something in that vein. When Ozpin coughed lightly into the mic before launching into the exact same short, generally disappointing speech Jaune remembered receiving the last time before dismissing them, Jaune realized there were no other options. Either Ruby was not nearly as good a person as Jaune had thought, or he was in the past. Which meant Initiation would happen, again, tomorrow morning. Well, shit.

* * *

 **Greetings, fellow kids! This is my first fanfiction, for which I decided to write about time-travel because why wouldn't I do this thing? Any critique/advice would be appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I skipped over Initiation and all that jazz because a) I'm writing about that next chapter, and b) why on earth would I want to write the exact events of the show when literally nothing has changed that's goddamn insane and I would like to think I am not that thing which I just said.**


	2. Chapter 2

Jaune lay awake on the floor of the auditorium, letting the sounds of breathing, snoring, and quiet chatter wash over him. Tomorrow morning would prove that the whole thing wasn't a dream, although really he knew it to be true already. He, Jaune Arc, was in the past.

Actually, no- he, Jaune Arc, had most likely _died_ during a school field trip and then woke up several weeks earlier, none the worse for wear. It was a cosmic joke of epic proportions. How had it even happened? People just didn't casually travel back in time- or, he thought wryly, in any way at all. The very concept seemed ludicrous. Why upon his death, and not before? Could it happen again, or had it been a one-time thing? He wished there was some convenient expert on temporal displacement around so he could get some answers, but that would require time travel actually being a _thing_ , which, again, it wasn't.

And not only that, but he would now have to suffer through Initiation, _again_ , and fight a Deathstalker and a giant Nevermore.

But then, he suddenly thought, did he really have to do that? It was his own unwitting actions which led to the Deathstalker entering the fray at all, and the Nevermore- well, that probably would happen again, knowing team RWBY. In fact, he could really prove himself this time around! He _probably_ had Aura, and had over a month's worth of minor combat experience, and who was he kidding he was pretty much in the same boat as last time. Jaune sighed as loudly as he dared at this time of night.

He had put his short-term future knowledge to good use in one way, he reflected, being that he wasn't wearing the horrid onesie his sisters had convinced him to bring. That should hopefully improve first impressions with his… Jaune awkwardly rolled over in his sleeping bag, looking for the faces he could tentatively say belonged to friends.

Could he befriend them all again? Most of whatever bonds they had had formed from the insanity that was Initiation. He still liked them well enough. Although Yang was determined to embarrass and provoke everyone, often simultaneously, and Blake was cold and a bit standoffish even, and well, Weiss was _very_ pretty but he supposed he didn't know a whole lot about her, and Nora was great but a bit much at almost all times, and…

Maybe, Jaune mused, he should try and live for more than a month, and then see how he felt about people. Although he did like Ren. Also Ruby. He should just befriend people whose names started with 'R', he decided. Having decided this, Jaune decided to get some sleep, because giving more thought to his current situation clearly was neither helping said situation nor his sanity.

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Jaune didn't feel significantly more sane or confident, and gave both up as a bad job. Grabbing his gear and breakfast blurred together, and he felt so out of it he couldn't remember his responses to greetings or questions even mere minutes later. That… probably wasn't a good thing, Jaune mused, considering he had wanted to make a better first impression while he had the chance. Ah, but Jaune countered, the real first impressions happen at Initiation, and you are focusing all of your energies towards that. Jaune was not convinced, and realized that he a) maybe should have gone to sleep earlier, and b) that he had been staring at the ground for way too long and someone was currently waving a hand in front of his face.

"Gah! Yes, hi, what? Sorry," he smoothly diverted from his lapse in attention.

Ruby gave him an odd look which quickly morphed into a laugh. "Hi Jaune! Are you feeling better from yesterday?"

"Yeah, definitely," he replied, giving his head a quick shake to clear it. Now that he thought about it, he actually kinda did. For all its brutality, he really didn't feel terribly affected by his own death yet. Maybe he would in a couple of days or something; it's not like precedent existed for this- oh, he had gotten distracted again. Whoops. "You, uh, excited for Initiation? Haha, yeah, I sure love, um, initiating. Right," Jaune trailed off awkwardly. He looked off to the side, hoping to find something with which to change the topic, and found Yang. Quite easily, in fact, given that she stood about two feet in front of his face and looked extremely amused. Well, there went first impressions. Jaune sighed softly. "I don't suppose you two could just pretend the last five seconds or so never happened?" he asked resignedly.

"Hah! Not a chance, Vomit Boy," Yang cheered, slinging an arm around his shoulders and giving him a quick noogie for good measure. "You're doomed to Awkwardsville with my sister, I'm afraid." Ruby, who had been laughing hard at Jaune's misfortune, shot up with an indignant "hey!".

"Yeah, I figured," Jaune replied, wrenching out of Yang's grip and continuing to put on his armor. Ruby perked up again upon seeing Crocea Mors, and so they diverted to talk of weapons for the walk to the cliffs. Jaune had actually managed to make it sound like he liked sticking with 'the classics' this time, too! Future knowledge being put to good use, he thought sardonically.

Before long, they all stood on their platforms at the cliffs, listening to the explanation of Initiation. Jaune tuned most of it out in favor of looking over his fellows- not, he realized, that he had even talked to any of them besides Ruby and Yang yet. Huh. Hadn't he first met Pyrrha at the lockers last time? He supposed it didn't really matter, as long as he didn't end up on the same team as Cardin or any of his pals. And… that was it. RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL. It felt like a lot more, Jaune idly thought, looking out over the Emerald Forest, given that they all had such… loud personalities (with the notable exception of Blake) but he really only interacted with eleven of his peers on a regular basis. And four of those were under duress. Maybe he should get some new friends.

And then Jaune found himself soaring through the air, trees flickering past beneath him, and he found he didn't really care much about his friend status at the current moment. He flailed awkwardly in midair for a few seconds, before regaining enough presence of mind to hold his shield out in front of him. After a couple seconds more, he sheathed Crocea Mors with some difficulty and grabbed on tight to his shield with his other hand. So. He would be landing shortly, and while it would probably hurt, he had enough Aura to tank the impact without too much trouble- wait. He had forgotten to test if he actually had Aura or not! Oh shi-

Okay. He had Aura, Jaune noted as he gazed toward the sky, lying spread-eagled on the ground. Several trees would not thank him for his landing 'strategy' but he still lived, and that's all that counted. He slowly picked himself up, grimacing as he noticed the dirt and grass stains already adorning his armor, slowly taking stock of his whereabouts. He stood among trees, and farther out he saw some trees. Also everywhere else.

Okay, Jaune thought brightly, definitely in the Emerald Forest. A good start. No Grimm yet to be seen, and actually it felt downright idyllic. Fall hadn't arrived yet, so the temperature stood at a pleasant level, the sun was bright, the natural noises of the forest set a nice backdrop- oh, there were the gunshots. Nearby growling finally spurred Jaune back into motion, entering a ready stance and looking around warily. A pair of Beowolves stalked into the clearing ahead of him, and he furrowed his brow. Aura, he now knew, wasn't so much a safety net as it was a simple delay to actually being mauled.

Jaune slowly began walking forward, not entirely sure why. The last time he had encountered a Grimm… well, he had died. Not exactly the most inspiring of confidence. Then the time for thinking was past, as the opponents reached one another. One Beowolf lunged at him and in a reflex borne of fear, he bashed it in the face with his shield, taking a swipe with Crocea Mors at the one trying to creep around his side. It reared back, snarling, then leaped straight for him.

Letting out a surprised shout, Jaune swung his shield around, grunting as his wrist twinged in pain before his Aura went to work. The Beowolf clung to his shield, scrabbling for purchase with its wicked claws, and Jaune plunged Crocea Mors into its belly. The boy and the monster exchanged a look of disbelief, before the latter burst into greasy black smoke. Jaune flinched back, quickly looking to the other, which was just getting up. Mustering his courage, Jaune dashed over, reversing his grip on his sword clumsily, before plunging it into the creature's skull. He held it there until the Beowolf disintegrated like the other.

Jaune took a deep breath, attempting to lose the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He did it, he told himself, staring unseeing at the ground. Suddenly feeling jubilant, he grinned fiercely. He had done it! He had fought Grimm only twice before- once at last Initiation, and then… well, yesterday, he supposed. But Initiation saw him supported by all the others, and Ursai weren't really supposed to be tackled solo, as he learned firsthand. Here, however, he had fought Grimm by himself, and succeeded!

And then he was too busy yelling to congratulate himself any further, as a heavy weight landed on his back and claws attempted to gut him through his armor and Aura. Hot, moist, reeking breath hit his face and neck, and he heard teeth snap shut next to his ear. Jaune desperately writhed and bucked, trying to throw the vile creature off of him, but it clung tight. Suddenly, a loud _CRACK_ sounded, and the creature fell off of him. He looked down at the rapidly dissolving corpse of the Beowolf, and then around to see who his rescuer was.

Green eyes met his, and he smiled in relief, for of course it was Pyrrha, helping him out once again. He found that his bitterness toward her constant cajoling and offers of help over the last month were largely diminished, for as Forever Fall had showed, he clearly did need help.

"Man, thanks Pyrrha! Didn't see that last one coming, heh." He tried to play it off cool, but his hands still trembled some, so he gripped his sword and shield tighter to stop it.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," Pyrrha returned, smiling somewhat oddly. Oh, right, time travel. Still not a thing.

"Oh yeah, I heard someone call you that last night. I'm Jaune," he said, extending his hand. Pyrrha shook it, the same smile still on her face.

"So you don't know who I am?" she asked.

"No, not really. Why?" Jaune figured keeping his knowledge of her to himself was probably a good idea, didn't want to weird her out. Actually, hold on- he did know her last time! "Wait, yes I do!" he blurted. "You're on the box for Pumpkin Pete's! Man, I'm jealous," he continued.

She looked shocked for a moment, but recovered quickly.

"That's all?" she said. Well, she did some sort of tournament-style thing, right? But Jaune didn't think he knew that last time, so he might as well leave it.

"Uh, yep," Jaune replied.

"Well!" Pyrrha continued, smiling but somehow more relaxed, "We're partners, right? Let's get going!"

"Hooray," Jaune cheered weakly.

And at that, our intrepid adventurers continued their trek through the murky forest, in which danger could lurk behind any tree, in any brush, and, knowing the Grimm, just about everywhere else besides. Before long, they had met with a couple groups of the beasts, but thanks to Pyrrha's skill and Jaune's help as sidekick, they carried on almost entirely untouched.

Inevitably, they came across the cave containing the Deathstalker. Considering the first time Jaune had been the one to push for going in, and now he was actively leery of it, they passed by without issue, for which he was almost pathetically relieved. It looked like this Initiation might no be so bad, after all.

After a short while more of walking, they reached the clearing holding the ruins, just in time to see Ruby swing down from the trees. Hearing a scream from above, they looked and saw Weiss clinging to the back of a gigantic Nevermore. Oh right, there was the other problem with Initiation. Remembering the last time, Jaune geared up to catch Weiss. Then, _actually_ remembering the last time, he stopped and looked around quickly. There was Ruby, there were Blake and Yang, him and Pyrrha… so they were waiting on Ren and Nora. And Weiss, he amended with a wince. Oh, there were Ren and Nora now, the latter sitting atop an Ursa. He wasn't gonna think about that any more than necessary. "So," he began, unknowingly cutting through Yang's burgeoning freak-out, "can someone catch her?" He leveled his shield generally in the direction of Weiss. "I would, but I don't really have the equipment to do it and land well afterward," he said.

Yang, having recovered while he was talking, leered. "Don't have the right equipment, huh?"

"Yeah," he said, looking over at her, and more accurately her face, "I… oh." He tried to blush, facepalm and sigh simultaneously and mostly just looked ridiculous as a result. "Gear," he corrected into his hand, "accessories. Whatever." He looked back up. "Seriously though, someone should probably catch her," he said.

Everyone looked around for an awkward moment, made more so by the rapidly approaching screaming from above. Finally, Blake growled and said, "Fine. I'll do it. Yang, boost me."

"All aboard the Yang train!" Yang cheered. After a moment of set-up, she fired one of her gauntlets, Blake standing on top of it, and Blake went soaring into the air. When she and Weiss had just about met one another, a complicated maneuver was enacted whereby Blake somehow wrapped the ribbon of her weapon around Weiss and flung her back up into the air. She then caught herself on a branch of a nearby tree, swinging herself around in circles while her momentum slowly bled off. Meanwhile Weiss, now in a much more controlled fall than before, did whatever it was (Jaune assumed her Semblance) with the runes and began moving from one to the other, looking for all the world like she was just sprinting down a really wide staircase.

Okay, Jaune thought, maybe leave the metaphors for now. She wasn't landing on her back or, more importantly, on his, so all's well that ends well. The Nevermore took the moment to make its presence known again, screeching at an ear-splitting volume, sending flocks of birds up in flight all over the forest. The Hunters-in-training all looked at one another, until Jaune once again broke the silence by saying, "Well, there's eight of us and only one of it- this should be easy enough, right?"

"Wooooo!" Nora added. "Let's smash it!"

"I like you," Yang announced.

"Or maybe," Jaune said, "we shoot it before it shoots us." He had no desire to become a pincushion, and the Nevermore was flying far enough from them that melee just wasn't going to happen until they grounded it.

"I don't like you," Yang said, grinning to show she was kidding. He hoped.

"Aye-aye!" Ruby said cheerfully, lining up the beast she called a weapon with the actual beast. Pyrrha followed suit quickly, and the rest of them scattered to the trees for cover.

"Renny! Why aren't you using Stormflower?" Nora stage-whispered, which they all somehow heard despite the sharp retorts of Ruby and Pyrrha's sniping.

"Because neither are sniper rifles, Nora," Ren replied at a normal volume.

The Nevermore let out another screech, and Ruby started cheering. Looking out, they all saw that one of its eyes had been shot out, and it was on the verge of free-falling. Erratically flapping its wings in an attempt to right itself, it instead crashed into a nearby hill. Everyone else began cheering as well, until Jaune realized exactly what hill it had crashed into. While his soon-to-be friends celebrated, he stared off with slowly-mounting horror. After almost a minute- an agonizing eternity of a minute- the Nevermore awkwardly took to the air again, followed by a chittering roar from the ground. The celebrating abruptly stopped, and they readied their weapons again, all business once more. Ruby and Pyrrha began their barrage again, in an attempt to keep the Nevermore busy evading and therefore not pelting them with razor-sharp feathers. The unsettling cry sounded again, as if someone were rapidly pausing a recording of a lion's roar mixed with microphone feedback. Not long after, they began hearing the _crack_ ing and _crunch_ ing of trees breaking, steadily coming closer to their position.

And then the Deathstalker- for really, what else could it have been, Jaune wondered- was upon them. It was covered in pale bone plating, had multiple beady red eyes fixed upon them, and most importantly its stinger was as long as any of them were tall. Despite its size, it was deceptively quick, and lashed out at Ren, who backflipped out of the way. Jaune, in clarity borne of terror, noticed its trajectory and shouted, "It's going for Ruby and Pyrrha! We've gotta take it on here!" His voice cracked slightly, and he hoped no one had noticed even while he ran into the fray. The others were already ahead of him; Ren was staying at a moderate distance, shooting at the eyes of the Deathstalker while Yang and Nora stayed in melee range, keeping it from moving forward with their heavier weaponry. Blake and Weiss danced around the back of the beast, slicing at the trunk of its stinger, and Jaune realized there wasn't really a spot for him. Sure, he could hack at some of its legs or something- oh, actually that would probably help.

He dashed through the chaos (well, more like slightly around) and swung a mighty blow at the first of its legs within reach. Crocea Mors bit through an inch of flesh, leaving four or so more to go. Jaune swung another, even mightier blow, and hit an embarrassing distance to the left of his first cut. At this point, the Deathstalker decided it wasn't just going to sit still and take this sort of thing from him, and shoved Jaune sideways, sending him tumbling across the rough ground. Jaune, after discovering the location of all the rocks and roots for a good few square feet, decided to be quicker about his self-appointed task and jumped back into the fight. A few hefty but less reckless swings later, Jaune had successfully cut through one of the legs.

He abruptly threw himself backwards as a flash of gold entered his vision, and the stinger slammed into the ground half a second later. "Go for its legs!" Jaune shouted roughly, then coughed a few times to clear his throat. He watched from his spot as, in about ten seconds, his fellow initiates followed his lead and took out all of the legs on the side opposite him. Now he felt super useful. The Deathstalker was screaming- if it could be called that- and practically flailing around on the three legs it had remaining, lashing out with its stinger and claws. He reluctantly moved toward the creature again, and began working on the next leg while Blake and Weiss kept the stinger busy. A short time later, and with the helpful brutality of Nora and Yang, and the Deathstalker was about as harmless as it could be.

Having all moved back out of the reach of its appendages, they all gazed at the gargantuan scorpion.

"How should we kill it?" Yang asked. They all paused again.

"Maybe we don't?" Jaune posed. The others looked at him. "I mean, what can it do like this?" he asked, rubbing at the back of his head. They all exchanged glances, shrugged, and then immediately whirled back into action as Ruby and Pyrrha yelled from where they had been steadily shooting. The Nevermore had entered into a dive and was rapidly approaching them. It looked very much the worse for wear from their sniping, and its fury was visible in its single remaining eye. Then again, that might have just been from the baleful red hue typical to the Grimm. Jaune was standing under the relative cover of a tree, hesitantly holding up his shield, when it was suddenly upon him.

Why did they always go for him, he silently bemoaned, before he was abruptly set upon by wickedly sharp talons and buffeted by wings. He caught a decent amount of it on his shield and armor, but just as much actually hit him. He began lashing out with Crocea Mors, hitting something hard repeatedly but he doubted he actually was doing any damage. He distantly heard someone yell "keep it up, Jaune", and he managed to grunt something vague in reply. Time kept moving, and his arms began to hurt more and more from the attempts at laceration. His back was pressed against the tree, and he could feel the rough bark pressing into the back of his head. And then with a rush of air and some gently falling rose petals, the Nevermore lost its head to a scythe and it was over.

He stood there for a moment, then fell to his knees in relief, which he immediately regretted as his left landed directly on a rock.

"Well that was certainly exciting," a warm voice said from above him. He looked up and gratefully clasped Pyrrha's hand, letting himself (like he could stop her) be pulled to his feet.

"I'll say," he said. "Definitely didn't expect the two giant Grimm."

"But thanks to you, they're dead and Jaune!" Yang butted in, grinning like a loon. Jaune gave her a flat look while Pyrrha burst into helpless giggles.

"Yang, that was terrible!" Ruby cried from nearby. The rest of them all started laughing as well. Except for Blake and Ren, who just gave small smiles.

* * *

Eventually, they all grabbed their relics and made their way back to the cliffs. There they encountered Ozpin, who smiled enigmatically at them over his coffee, and said, "Welcome back. I'm sure you've had an exciting Initiation. As you've all collected relics and acquitted yourselves well enough in combat, I'd ask you to follow Ms. Goodwitch to the auditorium so that you may receive your teams. Welcome to Beacon." The group shared excited looks and quiet cheers, and quickly proceeded.

Once they had all filtered into the auditorium, and the other new students arrived, the stern blonde woman spoke up. "Please proceed in an orderly fashion when your names are called, and walk to the stage."

Ozpin immediately followed, saying, "Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao-Long." After pausing a moment for them to reach the stage, he continued, "You will form team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose." Letting the cheers (and startled exclamations, on Weiss' part) die down, he said, "Jaune Arc. Nora Valkyrie. Pyrrha Nikos. Lie Ren… You will form team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Jaune was leader again? Well, hopefully he'd make a better go of it than last time. Thank Oum he was part of JNPR again, though. He hadn't even considered that it might not be the case, with how stressed he was about Initiation, but it really was a stroke of luck. Maybe he could pass as an actual, regular student of Beacon this time. Then again, maybe not, he mused as Pyrrha nearly flattened him with her friendly slap on the shoulder. Whatever the case, he got to try again. Death might just be the best thing that ever happened to him.

 **Second chapter! I think I like this one better. As it turns out, writing makes you better at writing- who'd have thought? Anyways, I've thought about the direction I want to take this fic, and I think it'll be in a more thoughtful, existentialist sorta bent. That's honestly the main issue I have with other fics with this same/a similar gimmick- Jaune (or whoever, but honestly it's always Jaune) pursues his goal, usually of stopping Cinder/Salem and saving _all_ of his friends, relentlessly. For eternity. It's delightfully angsty, but that ain't how normal humans act. Given all of eternity- even with a world-ending threat on the horizon- I would do whatever the fuck I wanted, because it would all reset upon my death. And if you guys didn't see coming that he would keep resurrecting, then you probably need to read more or something. Because him resurrecting once and then no further would be boring as shit. Like I said, I don't want to write out what happens in the main story. Anyways, this one's a bit longer and I oughta be quicker and longer yet with the next (that's the goal, anyway). Signing off.**


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